a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fishing reels, and more particularly to a braking device which applies a braking force to a drive gear mounted on a handle shaft.
b) Description of the Prior Art
In general, a fishing reel is equipped with a braking device to apply an adjustable braking force to a drive gear mounted on its drive shaft. That is, in a double-bearing type fishing reel, a drive gear is mounted on a handle shaft which is driven with a handle, and a braking member is provided for the drive gear thus mounted in such a manner that the former is frictionally engageable with the latter. The pressure of the braking member which is applied to the drive gear is adjusted to control the braking force between the handle shaft and the drive gear.
The aforementioned drive gear is engaged with the spool pinion to wind the fishing line under a heavy load. Hence, the teeth of the drive gear are made of a material high in mechanical strength. Accordingly, a cylinder which is integral with the drive gear and is adapted to accommodate the braking member is also made of the same material. Hence, the material cost is high, and the manufacturing cost is also high. Thus, the resultant fishing reel is high in manufacturing cost, and heavy in weight.
In order to overcome this difficulty, U.S. Pat. No. 2,646,939 has disclosed a technique that the teeth of the drive gear, and the cylinder adapted to accommodate the braking member are provided as separate components so that they can be formed with different materials, and those components are locked to each other in a non-rotating posture with pins inserted axially.
However, because the cylinder is locked to the surface of the drive gear with the locking members in a non-rotating posture, the axial length of the handle side is increased as much; that is, the fishing reel is increased in size. Accordingly, the center of the weight thereof is shifted towards the handle, which adversely affects the fishing-line winding operation. Furthermore, as was described above, the cylinder and the drive gear are provided as separate components, and they are combined together with the pins inserted axially. Hence, the resultant fishing reel is large in the number of components, and it is rather difficult to assemble the fishing reel.
The braking device of this type should be a water-proof, otherwise water entering it sticks on the braking member, so that the frictional resistance is changed, and accordingly the braking force is lowered, or the braking action becomes irregular. Since no water-proof structure is provided between the drive gear and the shaft, the fishing reel is not sufficiently waterproofed when it is used in an environment where water or sea water is liable to enter the braking mechanism In order to overcome this difficulty, Japanese Utility Patent Application (OPI) No. 107175/1988 (the term "OPI" as used herein means an "unexamined published application"), Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 167730/1988, and Japanese Utility Patent Application Publication No. 38047/1994 have disclosed techniques that a braking device for applying a braking force to a drive gear mounted on a handle shaft is waterproofed.
The above-described braking devices are each designed as follows. Its drive gear has a cylindrical portion. A braking board and a frictional board, which form a braking member, are arranged in the cylindrical portion of the drive gears and the cylindrical portion is covered with a cover member. In the technique disclosed by Japanese Utility Patent Application (OPI) No. 107175/1988, a seal member made of an elastic material is arranged between the cover member and the shaft. In the technique disclosed by Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 167730/1988, a seal member is provided between the cylindrical portion of the drive gear and the cover member. In the technique disclosed by Japanese Utility Patent Application Publication no. 38047/1994, a drag shaft cylinder is engaged with the handle shaft in a non-rotating posture, and a frictional board and a braking board are arranged on the drag shaft cylinder, and seal members are arranged between the drag shaft cylinder and the drive gear, between the drag shaft cylinder and the cover member, and between the drive gear's cylindrical portion and the cover member, respectively.
In the techniques disclosed by the Japanese Utility Patent Application (OPI) No. 107175/1988 and Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 167730/1988, no water-proof structure is provided between the drive gear and the shafts Hence, in a fishing operation which is carried out in a circumference where water or sea water is liable to enter the braking device, those techniques are not satisfactory in water-proof function.
In the technique disclosed by the Japanese Utility Patent Application No. 38047/1994, the drag shaft cylinder is fitted on the handle shaft, and the drive gear, the frictional board, etc. are provided on the drag shaft cylinder. Accordingly, the drive gear is necessarily large in diameter. As a result, the gear box; that is, the reel side boards are bulky. In addition, the reel is intricate in structure, and accordingly it is large in weight; more specifically, the reel is poor in weight balance; that is, the reel is low in fishing operability. Furthermore, since, as was described above, the drag shaft cylinder is engaged with the handle shaft in a non-rotating posture, it is difficult to maintain the engagement of the drive gear with the pinion high in accuracy